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Bloody Crimes Spark Criticism
Of Japan's Violent Youth Culture

Young Killer in Sasebo Was
Fan of Online Murder Game;
'This Is Not My Blood'

By

Anthony Faiola The Washington Post

Updated Aug. 10, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

SASEBO, Japan -- On a cloudless afternoon in this sleepy port city, an 11-year-old girl drenched in blood and clutching a box cutter walked into the lunchroom at her elementary school. Teachers and students froze, assuming the sixth-grader known for her lighthearted nature had gravely hurt herself -- but she quickly dispelled that impression, witnesses said, by uttering a few chilling words: "This is not my blood."

Minutes later, teachers found Satomi Mitarai, a 12-year-old girl, lying in a pool of gore in an...